With the Toronto Maple Leafs losing 2-0 to the offensively challenged Florida Panthers over the weekend, even the legion of “glass is half full” fans who have held out hope that their team would somehow make a second half run towards a playoff spot are purchasing tickets for the CN Tower in preparation for a long leap to their demise. Toronto is in 14th place in the Eastern Conference with 44 points, 11 points behind 8th place Montreal. It appears that Toronto’s place in the standings will not go up but could go down to the bottom. The Leafs trail 13th place Tampa Bay by 8 points, but are ahead of last place Carolina by only 5 points. Carolina has played respectable ever since Cam Ward returned, so it is very possible that they will overtake the struggling Leafs. The only team between Toronto and 30th place is Edmonton, who appears to be readying themselves for a downward spiral down the stretch to lock in the best opportunity to obtain the #1 pick in June.

In spite of his public pronouncements regarding whether the Leafs will be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline, General Manager Brian Burke and his management team appear to be readying themselves for a very busy next 5 weeks. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reported extensively on the team’s status in his latest column:

The 28th-ranked Toronto Maple Leafs will be sellers ahead of the March 3 trade deadline, but they'll be in a unique position compared to any other club in the NHL. They've got cap space to sell, but more importantly, budget room.

In other words, they may be sellers and buyers at the same time. Confused? Unlike, say, Carolina or Edmonton (teams that solely want to shed salary like traditional sellers would), the Leafs are ready to take on huge contracts if the deals include draft picks or prospects in the process. And that's exactly the message being sent to the buyers around the league right now by GM Brian Burke and assistant GM Dave Nonis. Burke has had this financial muscle at his disposal all along, but has been waiting for the right time. That time is coming.
For example, pretend you're a Cup contender. You want to make a deal to help your team March 3, but you don't have enough cap room. The Leafs are telling those types of clubs they'll take a contract off their hands for a pick or prospect. No other seller, in all likelihood, will offer that scenario to buyers because no other seller is willing to park big money in the AHL to make these deals happen. This is where the Leafs hope to start recouping some assets, especially after dropping a pair of first-rounders to Boston for Phil Kessel. In the meantime, the Leafs are getting feelers for pending free agents, such as Alexei Ponikarovsky and Matt Stajan, and even guys under contract past this season like Niklas Hagman (two more seasons at $3 million per). A handful of the free agents will almost surely be moved out. Ponikarovsky, hot of late, could be a fetching pickup for a team looking for second-line offense.

The Leafs' pro scouting staff, led by vice president of hockey operations Dave Poulin, met Friday and Saturday in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to prepare for the March 3 trade deadline. Burke joined them Saturday. The staff ranked every player on all 30 teams over the two-day period so Burke and Nonis can quickly pull up those individual reports once trade talks heat up.
Know this: The Leafs' desire is to be extremely busy from now to March 3. We'll see if they find willing partners.

The “rent a cap” option could be something that could yield big returns for the Leafs, depending on how aggressive Burke & Co. use it. Cap space will be cleared up by the exodus of coveted unrestricted free agents like Stajan or Ponikarovsky, but depending on what opportunities present themselves, Toronto has the flexibility to create $7.5 Million in cap room if Burke decides to waive Vesa Toskala and demote Jeff Finger to the AHL. If contending teams need to move players that are taking up cap room to add that crucial final piece of the puzzle, you can bet that Brian Burke’s phone number will be on speed dial.

From the desk of Mike “In Buffalo” Augello

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mikeinbuffalo

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